Tonight the board's facilities committee unanimously agreed to vote later this month on the administrative recommendation to start designing a new school.

Officials have opted to replace the aging school rather than renovate or expand because those options can't address many of the building's structural limitations. A total overhaul would cost $48.38 million.

"This has been a longtime coming," said Michele Cann, board vice president. "Nitschmann is like a patchwork of buildings."

Administrators also recommend tapping the district's engineering firm, D'Huy Engineering Inc., to act as the resident project engineer for a fee of 3.5 percent of the total project costs.

Resident Randy Toman criticized the board for not putting the resident project engineer out to bid.

Superintendent Joseph Roy said the architect and other aspects would be put out to bid. D'Huy has a long history managing district construction projects and it's the engineer of record, Roy said.

Bethlehem Director of Facilities and Plant Operations Mark Stein explained D'Huy will coordinate between all contractors and design aspects and represent the district in all meetings.

The board plans to avoid a voter referendum on the project and pay for a
new school within the confines of its budget. A new building will cost
the average taxpayer $60.52 a year if the project does not qualify for state reimbursement for the construction.

The current state budget places a moratorium on the reimbursement process until at least June 30. If it's lifted, Bethlehem could be reimbursed $7.6 million, lowering the cost to the average taxpayer to $55.85.

The district abandoned plans to replace the school in 2008, a project that was estimated to cost almost $64 million. The district has updated those plans and thinks it can shave at
least $10 million off the top and put $5 million of its savings account
toward the early costs of the project.

Last month, Director Bill Burkhardt asked how much the 2003 $32 million Northeast Middle School project would cost today, which he thought was a good project.

Adjusting for inflation, engineer Arif Fazil estimates the project would cost $45.8 million to $56.6 million depending on the cost index used.

Toman warned the board that today's project estimates for Nitschmann will grow in the next two years. But Roy corrected Toman saying that the $53.7 million estimate is adjusted for inflation.

Officials have scaled back the size of the school in light of enrollment projections that show today's 900-student enrollment dropping to 811 by the 2017-18 school year, when the school would open.Follow @sarasatullo